


Window Pains

by MysticLuminescence



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cheating Ron Weasley, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light-Bashing Ron, OOC Ron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28604475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticLuminescence/pseuds/MysticLuminescence
Summary: As Hermione looks through various windows, what she sees tends to bring her nothing but pain. What, if anything, can change that?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson/Harry Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting something I've written. This could probably be a one shot, but I've decided to break it up into two parts.  
> Feel free to leave kudos/comments if you are so inclined. Constructive criticism is welcome.  
> Thank you so much for reading!!!!

~¤~

Hermione had just obliviated her parents. She stood on the lawn of her parents' home looking in through the window at them. She had to take just one last look at what was once her haven before she cleared off to go help Harry hunt for the remaining horcruxes. They just sat there looking dazed. 

Her heart broke as she prayed that her drastic measures would keep them away from Death Eaters and alive. She wiped her eyes and set off down the street. Reaching the park down the street, she walked behind a group of trees and promptly disapparated to The Burrow. 

She apparated just outside the kitchen door, walked inside, sat down on one of the well-loved couches, and began to sob in earnest with images of her parents through the window burned into her mind. Molly immediately sat down beside her and held Hermione as she cried the hardest she had cried since her sweet Nana had died. 

~¤~

Three years later...  
Hermione arrived home early from work the day before her two year anniversary to surprise her boyfriend, Ron, with a long weekend away. As she walked up the front walkway, she looked in through the window to find him shagging Romilda Vane - on her dining table no less. As she entered the house with her wand drawn to hex the ever loving hell out of the both of them, Ron quickly yanked up his trousers, pulled Romilda behind him, and begged Hermione not to hex her because she was pregnant with his child. 

Hermione was livid and hexed Ron anyway for good measure and told them both to get the hell out, which they did with amazing speed considering that Ron was hit with a particularly strong jelly-legs jinx. She shrunk the table, sent it to the fireplace, and promptly hit it with an incendio.  
The long weekend away quickly turned into her being single, staying home, and crying into her pillow. 

By Sunday late afternoon, she was completely disgusted by the memories the house now held, which she'd have to face every time she entered. She, therefore, decided immediately not to renew the lease, which was fortuitously up at the end of the week anyway. She packed up everything that was hers, which was basically everything except for a few things of Ron's. She hastily tossed his belongings out on the front lawn and sent him a howler letting him know that he needed to come get his shit. 

While looking for a new home, she stayed with Harry at Grimmauld Place. Of course, he said there was absolutely no rush in even looking for a new place. He enjoyed having his psuedo-sister back with him. 

To keep her mind off everything else, she buried herself in work at St. Mungo's as their Junior Potions Master. She was working hard to find some kind of answer for Astoria Malfoy. Due to a blood curse caused by one of her own relatives, she had been admitted to St. Mungo's, but was still getting sicker and was nearly on the verge of death. Nothing they had been trying was working, even the experimental potions. Within a week, she was put in a medically induced coma. Hermione had become quite fond of Astoria during their little chats. She missed not being able to talk with her. 

A week later, she came in to work to find Draco Malfoy walking up the hall that lead to Astoria's room. His eyes were slightly red, but his face was ever stoic as he passed her towards the exit. Hermione could not remember a time that she had seen him there during the morning hours. She continued down the hall to Astoria's room. As she reached for the door, she looked in through the small side window to see the janitorial staff stripping the bed and preforming cleansing spells. Her breath caught in her throat as Healer Stanhope came up and confirmed that Astoria had passed away a few hours before. Hermione couldn't hold back the tears as she began to cry and her tears silently streamed down her cheeks. Healer Stanhope encouraged her to take the day off. Hermione smiled weakly and took her advice. 

Two months later, she was in the back garden at Grimmauld Place. As she went to return inside, she glanced through the window only to see Ron and Romilda. Her pregnant belly was already showing - it'd been going on longer than Ron had previously admitted. They snuggled together at the table while talking to Harry. Both Ron and Romilda were beaming with excitement. Hermione felt like it was an extra slap in the face for them to show up where they knew she had been staying and, seemingly, flaunting Romilda's pregnant belly. She opened the door, passed through the kitchen with her head held high as if she didn't see them, continued upstairs to her room where she warded and locked the door, cast a strong silencing charm for good measure, and laid down on her bed to cry. She decided then and there that she really needed to get a place of her own. 

Within the next couple of days, she doubled down her house hunting efforts. But, after realizing that there was too much ground to cover and not enough time, she decided to hire a real estate company to search for her. Celestial Real Estate was recommended to her by Harry's fiance, Pansy, that night at dinner. She owled the next day and made an appointment for the following day. 

She located the office in a quieter part of Diagon Alley and entered to find Blaise Zabini there waiting to assist her. After a slightly awkward hello and Blaise mentioning how well she looked with a genuine smile on his face, she relaxed a bit and followed him into his office to get down to business. After taking notes on her budget, wants, and absolute requirements for a house, he said he'd get started straight away putting together some options for her. She thanked him for his time and left. 

She headed to Slug and Jiggers Apothecary. After she finished selecting the Elcampane she needed and some Valerian Root, she headed for a late lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. She entered the homey pub and nearly ran into Draco Malfoy as the door closed behind her. 

She looked up into his eyes and blinked without saying a word. Realizing that she was blocking the door, she quietly excused herself and stepped aside. He simply reached for the door, but before he could open it, Hermione put her hand on his forearm and expressed her sincere condolences about Astoria and then her apologies for not saying something sooner. He slowly turned his head toward her, nodded, and left. She watched out the window as he walked away, grasping the back of his neck like she'd seen him do more than a few times at the hospital. She held back a tear as she thought of her friend and the man who had lost his wife not even a year into marriage. Arranged marriage or not, she knew that Draco had cared for her, even if it was in more of a platonic way than a romantic one. 

A week later, Hermione received an owl from Blaise informing her that he had a list of homes ready for her to see. She sent him a reply with the owl that she would be available to view the homes that weekend and that Harry would be accompanying her. 

The weekend came swiftly and they met Blaise at his office. He pulled out her file and ushered them to the fireplace to use the floo. Just as he called out the address of the first location, Hermione thought she saw a flash of unmistakable platinum blonde hair through the window of Blaise's office. As they stepped out of the fireplace at their destination, she told herself that she must have been mistaken and dismissed the thought.  
Hermione looked around the space to which Blaise had brought her. It was nice and it ticked all the boxes, but it just didn't have the right feel.  
After a few more homes with the same outcome, Blaise announced that the next house was not connected to the floo network so they would have to apparate, but not to worry because he had set up a notice-me-not muggle repellant apparition point in the front yard. Harry and Hermione held on to Blaise as he apparated them to the front of the house. 

Immediately, Hermione looked at the front window, burst into hysterical tears, and collapsed on the lawn. Blaise was horrified at what could possibly cause such a reaction. Harry's mouth was agape as he stared at the familiar front door. Coming to his senses, he scooped up Hermione, hissed at Blaise for his idiocy, and apparated with Hermione back to Grimmauld Place.  
The moment Harry came through the door still carrying Hermione, he called to Pansy for a calming draught, took Hermione up to her room, and placed her gently on her bed. Pansy entered the room and was completely dumbfounded by the current state of the witch in front of her. She had never seen Hermione so distraught. Harry gave the calming draught to Hermione, but it seemed to be having a minimal effect on her. He told Pansy to stay with her while he ran to the floo.  
A few minutes later, he returned to the room with a fretful-looking Molly Weasley. Molly quickly looked at a desolate Hermione, then to Harry with a questioning look on her face. She decided to holdback until later for any explanations of the situation. She swiftly moved over to hold and console Hermione as she had done once before.  
About a half an hour later, after the calming draught had fully taken effect and a sleeping draught had been administered, Hermione was asleep. Molly made her way down to the kitchen to find Harry and Pansy. Molly sat down and accepted the tea Pansy offered. Harry began to explain that Zabini had taken them house hunting and that the last house had been her parent's home. Molly's eyes widened and she sputtered as she choked on her tea. She dabbed herself with a conjured napkin as she considered sending a howler to one Mr. Blaise Zabini, but she was assured that Pansy had already sent two. She finished her tea, banished her cup and saucer to the sink with a spell for it to wash, dry, and put itself way, and made her way to the floo (after teaching Pansy the spell, for future reference, of course) while still contemplating that howler. Pansy bid her a good evening and Harry thanked her while giving her a hug. 

The next morning, Hermione awoke and made her way down to the kitchen for breakfast. Upon entering the kitchen, she saw a package with her name on it, as well as an envelope for her on the table. Hermione looked to Harry who merely rose to hug her and then sat back down. She was thankful that he didn't make a big deal out of the catastrophe that was yesterday's events. She hadn't even wanted to think about why her parents' house was being sold. 

Putting that thought out of her mind for the time being, she checked the letter and package for any nasty spells or curses, as was her habit, then removed the card from the envelope. 

_Dear Miss Hermione Granger,_

_Please accept my most humble and chagrined apology for the dreadful error that took place yesterday. I was thoroughly mortified to learn of my mistake from the four howlers I received in response. I hope that you will consider continuing your business with us._

_Sincerely,_  
_Blaise Zabini_  
_Celestial Real Estate_

She then opened the package. It had a simple, but pretty, arrangement of blue hyacinths and lily of the valley in a small, white pot. 

Just then, Pansy entered the kitchen, saw the flowers, scoffed slightly, then muttered something about it being the least they could do, but that they were at least starting off correctly. 

They had all just sat down to eat breakfast when a beautiful eagle owl rapped on the window with yet another package. Harry, being the closest, went to open the window. The owl entered, carefully set the package on the table, then looked to Harry expectantly. Taken slightly aback by the bird's entitled behavior, Harry gave it a bit of bacon and watched it leave. 

Hermione, once again, checked the package for anything malicious. Finding nothing, she opened it to find a white orchid in a square grey planter. A small card read: 

_Our sincere apologies. _  
_Celestial Real Estate___

____

Pansy had nodded approvingly of the flowers, but struggled to hide a scowl when it came to the impersonal card that had been attatched. Hermione didn't bother to ask who had sent the four howlers to Blaise, but it was obvious that Pansy would most likely be sending one to the exact bestower of this fairing. 

____

Pansy explained that in pure-blood circles, the best way to send a message, especially to a woman, was with flowers. These particular flowers: blue hyacinth, lily of the valley, and white orchid, meant that they knew they had royally screwed up and were apologising profusely. 

____

Hermione took the flowers up to her room after breakfast and cast a self-watering spell on them. She then wrote to Blaise and Celestial Real Estate to accept their apologies, thank them for the flowers, and let them know that she would like to continue with their company to find a suitable home. It truly was an honest mistake. 

____

The following weekend found Hermione back at Celestial Real Estate with Harry in tow once again. Blaise showed them the file of the potential homes to make sure there wouldn't be any further unpleasant surprises. Hermione saw one that stood out from amongst the others. Blaise's lip lifted slightly just before he told her that that home had just become available within the last week and that it was prepped for immediate viewing. 

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An hour later, Hermione and Harry had viewed every part of the house and most of the property including the small river that ran along the back side. There was a small greenhouse that Hermione was certain could house her herbary and other plants she grew for ingredients that she used for her personal potions. There was also a vegetable garden, a flower garden, and a grove of fruit trees. The entire property had a rather georgic feeling about it, while still being appropriately modern. She adored it. 

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Harry already knew that they would not be looking at any further homes, so he spoke up and asked Blaise the listed rate. When Blaise stated the price, Harry narrowed his eyes and asked him what the catch was because there was no way that anybody would ask so little for such a place. He explained that the seller was motivated since he had bought the house as a surprise holiday home for his wife, but that she had passed away before he could gift it. In fact, the only thing that had been done with the place since he had bought it were a few repairs and a couple of house elves had been put in charge of making sure the house was kept clean and the exterior grounds maintained. 

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Hermione looked in the window and imagined an elderly couple spending evenings in front of the fire and holidays with their children and grandchildren in the living room. It pained her to know that the kind grandmother who would have been there, never got to see the beautiful home.  
She turned her attention back to Blaise and offered a sum handsomely above the asking price. Blaise shook his head and said that the owner refused to take any more than his asking price, which to her seemed barely more than free, considering what it was actually worth. She decided to sleep on it to make sure that she didn't feel like she was basically robbing a dear old man who had recently lost his wife. 

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The following afternoon, she wrote a letter to Blaise to see if there was any way the owner would accept a higher price. His response letter stated that he had personally spoken to the owner to see if he would accept more for the home. The owner, however, was adamant that he had set the price to what he would accept and not a single knut more.  
Feeling satisfied with his response, she sent another letter to Blaise stating that she would accept the house at the seller's price. 

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During the week, she signed all the papers for the home and the bank transfer. By that weekend, she was officially moved into her new home and was working on making it cozy. 

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The following weekend she held a housewarming party, which really meant that she had some friends over for dinner. Everybody completely surprised her by presenting her with traditional gifts. 

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Harry and Pansy came with a wooden basket containing a loaf of bread and olive oil. Pansy said that the wood was to symbolize a home with stability, harmony, and peace, the bread meant to never go hungry, and the olive oil was for health and well being. 

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Neville and Hannah came with a jar of honey from their apiary symbolizing a blessing for all of the sweetness life has to offer and some herb plants for life, beauty, and abundance. 

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Ginny brought a candle to have light through the darkest times and a container of salt for flavor and spice in life and relationships. As Hermione eyed the salt, Ginny had a mischievous grin and winked at her. 

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Molly and Arthur didn't stay for dinner, but had stopped by a little early with a specially knitted throw blanket for a warm home and a broom so that the house would be trouble free and clean of evil spirits. 

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Blaise popped in with a bottle of elf wine - to never go thirsty and for joy, prosperity, and a little celebration. He looked around and expressed how great the place looked. He then struck up a conversation with Ginny that neither of them seemed to want to finish, and, upon Hermione's insistence, he ended up staying for dinner.  
Hermione made sure to thank each person for the unexpected gifts they had presented to her and the well wishes of their meanings. 

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As the evening came to a close, Neville and Hannah said their farewells. Blaise decided he should escort Ginny home. Though, whether that meant to his home or hers, Hermione wasn't sure. Harry and Pansy left with reminders for her to not become a stranger now that she had her own place. She smiled and promised to have dinner with them at least once a week. 

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The next couple of months flew by quickly. Hermione had stayed busy at work and worked around her own home, especially tinkering in the gardens and greenhouse. She, Harry, and Pansy still had weekly dinners, except for the two weeks they had been gone on their honeymoon. 

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She had occasionally gone to lunch with Ginny and Blaise. They had decided to announce their relationship as official. Hermione was positively happy for the both of them.

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	2. Chapter 2

~¤~

Hermione was in Flourish and Blotts on the hunt for a specific grimoire when she looked out the window. The snow had started to fall, which reminded her of the time they had been outside the boundary of the Shrieking Shack. She bowed and shook her head. The Shrieking Shack - that brought up memories of Professor Snape being attacked by that damn snake and how she couldn't save him. Her heart felt burdened by the memory and she felt a tear prick at her eyes. Coming back to the present, she quickly dabbed her eyes and decided to head out since the book she was seeking clearly wasn't in stock. 

As she exited the shop, some kids passed by on their way to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She looked down the alley and in through the shop's windows at the fun and crazy gadgets for sale and she thought of Fred, causing her eyes to glisten once again with unshed tears. She really did miss him. 

Drying her eyes for the second time in such a short amount of time, she turned to walk towards the Leaky. Instead, she ran into something very solid, lost her footing on the slick ground, and suddenly found herself falling onto her butt. She looked up to see Draco Malfoy standing over her. Before she could move to get back up with any dignity that remained, he reached out his hand to assist her. She took it somewhat tentatively. She hadn't realized how strong he was, but he pulled her up so quickly that it was as if she weighed nearly nothing and she slammed, once again, into his chest. She apologized, then thanked him, then apologized again, nearly all in one breath. Then, before she could stop herself, she invited him to go to the Leaky with her for a hot cocoa - her favorite on cold days. She was sure she was rambling. He looked at her for a moment as though he were contemplating ancient ruins. She was about to rescind the offer in order to give him an out if that's what he needed, but he spoke up first, taking her up on her offer. 

They made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, which caused a few busybodies to scuttlebutt while pointing, not so subtly, in their direction. They each simultaneously decided to keep their heads high in order to show that they were perfectly content with the person they were walking with. Hermione more so in defiance of what people might be saying. And Draco, because he no longer cared what people thought, not on the surface level anyway. 

While Draco got hot cocoa with extra marshmallows, Hermione got hers with whipped cream and a sprinkling of nutmeg. They allowed the mugs to warm their hands as they sipped in silence.  
Her drink was nearly finished and she was about to ask him how he'd been doing the last couple of months, but before she could get a word out, movement outside the window caught her eye. She observed Ron and a waddling Romilda heading toward the pub. Draco looked at what she was seeing and narrowed his eyes. Just as he directed his attention back to her, he watched as she excused herself quickly, went to the floo, and disappeared. 

It wasn't that she was still upset by the situation per say, but she didn't really want to confront the betrayal she still felt by Ron's actions. And certainly not in front of Draco Malfoy. As she stepped out of her fireplace, she went to go curl up with her knitted blanket and a good book to settle her nerves. A bit later, when she had calmed, she wrote Draco an apology for her abrupt departure and rude behavior. 

Later that week, after work, she met with Ginny to do some shopping in Diagon Alley. By the time they were done, they were both famished. They decided to go to Celestial Real Estate to get Blaise and go out to dinner. 

As they were approaching, they saw Draco Malfoy leave and head the opposite direction. Hermione looked to Ginny and wondered aloud why he'd have been there. Ginny laughed at her as though she were putting her on, but stopped when she realized that Hermione was serious. They continued walking as Ginny told her about Blaise and Draco being business partners, with Draco being the majority owner and CEO of the company. Hermione wondered how it was that she'd had no idea, but would certainly be asking Pansy why she hadn't mentioned it when she had recommended them. 

The opportunity came up two days later when Harry and Pansy went to dinner at Hermione's. Pansy shrugged her shoulders and said she thought she knew, especially after she had bought the house. Hermione looked confused at that moment. Pansy sighed petulantly that she seemed to know nothing. She then explained that after Hermione had gotten so close with Astoria, and then the incident while house hunting with Blaise, Draco had decided to offer her the house. 

Hermione blanched and felt is though the room were spinning. Draco had been the prior owner of the house that she had fallen in love with and agreed to pay far below fair market value for?! The house that was supposed to be a gift for someone's wife who had passed away before receiving it was Astoria's?! 

Hermione's heart sunk to the pit of her stomach and, before she realized what she was doing, she moved to look out the back window at the garden that she realized contained some of Astoria's favorite flowers, and she started to cry. Astoria would have absolutely loved the home. 

Pansy conjured a few tissues and gave them to Hermione. After Hermione had calmed down, Pansy asked how it was that she never saw his name on any of the paperwork. Hermione explained that the seller had wanted to stay anonymous so the paperwork had been charmed to blur out the name. 

The following day, Hermione sat in her favorite chair next to the fire, snuggled up in the blanket she'd received from the Weasleys. She was torn. She loved the house and had no intention of moving, but it felt as though she had cheated Draco out of it somehow. And Draco - that was another situation entirely. She had liked bumping into him, both literally and figuratively. He was so incredibly different from how he had been when he was younger. She had been surprised to learn from Astoria that he, and many others in Slytherin, had never actually believed in Voldemort's pureblood ideologies, but had to go along for the sake of their lives, as well as their families' lives. 

The problem was that she now knew things that she clearly wasn't intended to know. Plus, she felt like she was dishonoring her deceased friend by fancying her recently widowed husband. Then, she became infuriated because she felt as though both Blaise and Draco had intentionally kept all of it from her. 

Intending to pay Blaise a visit, she apparated just outside Celestial Real Estate. The crack of her apparition was soniferous. She opened the door so quickly, and with such force, that the receptionist jumped with a small squeak before she could stop herself. The look on Hermione's face told her that someone was probably about to be hexed. In a small voice, she asked how she could help her. The ire in Hermione's voice as she growled out Blaise's name was enough to have Draco and Blaise coming out of their respective offices. One look at her told both men exactly why she was so upset. Blaise started to move toward her, but Draco stepped forward in order to usher her into his office. 

As he held his hand out, motioning to a chair for Hermione to take a seat, he offered her some tea. She huffed in indignation as she crossed her arms. Before Draco had even taken a seat, she let lose her tirade against him and demanded to know why he would do such a thing and asked if he believed her to be so stupid as to never find out the truth about the house. 

Draco took a deep breath before describing the events that led up to the point at which they found themselves. Astoria had once been his classmate's little sister and his bride-to-be through an arranged marriage, but she had become his best friend over the last couple of years. They had talked about things that neither one of them had told anyone else. Then one day, a few months after their wedding, she got sick and told him that she was actually dying from a blood curse. They had discussed children in the past, but once she had fallen ill, it just seemed cruel to even put any of them through that. 

Draco's eyes were noticeably moist and he stood up, walked to the window, and stared out the window at nothing as he collected himself before speaking again. As the weeks went by, he watched her get worse and he begged her to allow him to take her St. Mungo's to let them try something, anything, that may help her. When she finally acquiesced, he watched as Hermione had done everything she could to try to save her. 

He admitted to watching them a few times through the small side window of Astoria's room and that he had smiled as he watched them laugh, but had held back his own tears as he'd seen them cry together. He realized that they had become very close. He recalled some of the times he would talk to her at her bedside in the hospital and how he'd enjoyed watching her face light up as she spoke of Hermione. He told her about how Astoria had constantly spoken so positively of her. He had become surprisingly livid as Astoria had recounted the tale of Ron's misdeeds that Hermione had walked in on. When he told Astoria about the house he had bought as her one year anniversary gift, she had said it sounded absolutely lovely with a sad smile on her face. Astoria had then made him promise to let the house go to Hermione, should she not live. 

A heavy tear fell from his face onto his crisp, white shirt as he spoke of his promise. She had told him that Hermione would never let him gift it to her, even if it was her dying wish, so he should sell it to her for as low as possible. But, after she passed, he wasn't ready to let the house go yet. Hell, he wasn't ready to let his best friend go. So he kept the house and the grounds maintained just the way it was set up for Astoria. He wasn't sure he could honor his promise to her. That was until a couple months later when Pansy had contacted him to say that she was sending Hermione as a potential client. He had stepped aside to let Blaise take the lead, which had gone horribly disastrous when they hadn't realized the house in the muggle neighborhood had been the one she'd grown up in. In fact, the only reason they had it in their listings was because it had a strong magical signature attached to it. 

The howler that Pansy had sent him was epic. He had never seen her so pissed off. She damn near skinned him up one side and back down the other for having been so careless. She had sworn that it Hermione didn't recover, she'd personally hex him with something that would take months to fix. It had become quite obvious to him that she was well loved by not only Astoria, but Pansy as well. It tore him up to know that so much pain had essentially been caused by him because he hadn't fulfilled his promise and let go of the house. 

By this time, Hermione had tears running down her face as she sniffed into a tissue. Draco continued to stare out the window at nothing with his own tears making their way down. Then Draco admitted something that left Hermione speechless. The day that she had passed him in the hall. The day that Astoria had passed away, he had stopped to watch her walk to Astoria's room. He watched as she stood there looking through the window as she began to cry for Astoria and how she'd gently been sent home to grieve. That was the day he'd realized that through Astoria's stories about Hermione, by watching them interact as friends, and by her passion to heal Astoria, he had actually grown to care for her. He also realized that Astoria had been setting it all up, knowing that she didn't have much longer to live. 

Hermione blinked, not she if what she thought she heard was correct. She stumbled over her words as she asked Draco to repeat what he'd just said. Draco wiped his face, turned from the window to face Hermione properly, and started to walk towards her. Hermione just stared as he slowly made his way. She swallowed audibly as he sat down in the chair next to her and took her hand. He took a deep breath for courage and reiterated that he cared very deeply for her and that, although Astoria's accounts of her were fascinating, he would like a chance to get to know her personally. 

She released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, smiled brightly, and asked if that very moment would be too soon. He smiled back at her, cast a refreshing charm on their faces to clear away the tears, and invited her to go to lunch with him. 

~¤~

About 7 months later...  
Draco asked Hermione to marry him and received the best birthday present ever when she conceded and said yes. 

~¤~

About 6 months later...  
Hermione and Draco pledged their everlasting love for one another in an intimately beautiful wedding ceremony that had only their close friends and family in attendance. 

~¤~

Eight months, three weeks and five days later...  
Cassiopeia Alexandra made an early appearance, which required her to stay in St. Mungo's for about two weeks. She only weighed about 2.6kg (5.7lbs) and the healers wanted to make sure her lungs had developed enough to send her home. 

During the second week in the hospital, Hermione had stepped out of the room to get some fresh air, leaving Draco to stay with the baby. Upon returning, she looked in through the door's side window to see her husband holding their daughter as she wrapped her tiny hand around his little finger. He was looking at her while rocking her and singing the most beautiful lullaby Hermione could ever remember hearing. The unabashed look of adoration on Draco's face was the most serene she could remember seeing him. Hermione realized that although she was smiling, she had a couple of tears of joy running down her face. 

She wiped her eyes and quietly entered the room. As she took the chair next to him, he looked to her with such a love and passion. She reached over to cup his cheek, leaned in, and kissed him softy on the lips. 

Later that week they were back home and they soon found a rhythm to adjusting to life with a baby. 

A couple of weeks later Draco was in the flower garden with Cassiopeia telling her all about the flowers that were growing there and how many of them were the favorites of a dear friend named Astoria. 

Hermione had come downstairs and was watching them through the open back window. She could hear Draco telling her about the medicinal properties of each flower. 

She smiled with mirth and her eyes had a hint of extra moisture in them as she looked lovingly upon her family. She walked outside, sat down beside her husband, and kissed him gently as her thumb caressed his cheek. She then kissed her beautiful daughter's forehead and smiled once more. Leaning back on her hands with her legs stretched out in front of her, she sat there amazed by the doors that life had opened. She was truly happy.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave kudos/comments if you are so inclined.  
> Thank you again for reading!!
> 
> For those of you wondering how I came up with their daughter's name -  
> I have always like Cassiopeia as a constellation name.   
> As for Alexandra, that was my sister-in-law's name. She passed away while I was writing this. I wanted to honor her memory and thought this was a good way to do so.


End file.
